Brown City spikers open East with win

CAPAC — The Brown City volleyball team, defending Greater Thumb Conference East champs, opened league play on Thursday night by sweeping Capac in straight sets, 25-11, 25-17, 25-12.

Grace Schlaud (.538 hit %) with seven kills and Kendal Muxlow with five led the hitting for the Green Devils.

Also aiding the cause were Alexis Wiltsie with 16 assists and four aces and Lauren Woods with eight digs.

Four losses, one tie and one win was the result from the Cros-Lex tournament on Sept. 1.

Brown City lost to USA 16-25, 13-25, Grand Blanc 14-25, 19-25 and Goodrich 21-25, 21-25, before a 18-25, 25-21 split with Cros-Lex and a 17-25, 25-22 split with Liden. Brown City beat Cros-Lex 25-23, 29-31, 15-10, then lost to Linden 23-25, 16-25.

Coach Lisa Smith of the Pirates said a rally in the second game helped spur the victory.

“After coming out strong in the first set, we trailed by two points (18-20),” noted Smith. “I am proud of the girls fighting back and winning.”

She later added, “In the third set, the girls played hard. I tell them all the time to play until the whistle blows because you never know what can/will happen.”

Smith cited a key play in the match. “Samantha Bissett (Pirate hitter) is blocked and Landmark is starting to celebrate. But, with excellent defense work, we dig the ball back for Bissett to get a kill.”

Peck had balance up front with Jordan Lodge and Caryn Stevens with six kills each, Haener with five and Bissett with four. Winiarski had 10 assists, followed by Emma Engler with eight. Bullis led in the back with 11 digs and 12 serve receptions. — D.B.

NORTH BRANCH

The Lady Broncos were dismantled by Div. 1 honorable mention Flushing at the Clarkston quad on Wednesday, getting pinned with their first loss of the season. North Branch finished the day 2-1, defeating Clarkston 25-13, 25-15, 15-11 and Oxford 25-14, 25-18, but lost to Flushing 25-12, 25-14. Clarkston is also a Div. 1 honorable mention.

“We started our first match against Clarkston falling behind 6-0 and while we recovered to win that match, we continued our inconsistent play during the Flushing match,” said Jim Fish, North Branch coach.

Allyson Severance racked up 35 kills, 20 digs and an ace on the day. Autumn Deshetsky put up 57 assists, four kills, five aces and seven digs. Allison Bryce chipped in 13 kills and MacKenzie DeLong had nine. Hannah Bader added 27 digs and two aces. Faith Kotur had 19 digs and an ace and Breann June had five aces.

North Branch, 18-1 and ranked No. 2 in Div. 2, was at the Mt. Morris tournament on Saturday and hosts Almont on Wednesday. — K.R.